


Rainy Days and Rivalries

by trulytragic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Eventual Relationships, Highschool AU, M/M, Pidge Uses They/Them Pronouns, Some Fluff, Some angst, emo keith and jock lance au, eventual smut sort of, keith is a foster child, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-20 13:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8251300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trulytragic/pseuds/trulytragic
Summary: Your typical highschool AU scenario in which Keith Kogane is both an angsty and emo teenager who's rival since middle school, just so happens to be the highschool's football star; Lance McClain. But when the two are paired up for a science project, Keith learns that there's much more to this rival of his.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Emo keith and Jock Lance AU](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/233581) by a-chance-for-klance on tumblr. 



> New chapter every Monday and Friday :)

Keith began idly twisting the loose thread that hung from his black jeans, desperately trying to pass the time. The teacher had been gabbing on about God knows what for what seemed like an eternity now. Keith had somehow managed to take attentively jot down a few notes in the beginning of the class, but had lost any motivation about halfway through and the notes had mostly just evolved into mindless scribbles. His lack of motivation mostly stemmed from the fact that he could not care less about his high school education and the distracting snickering coming from the group of jocks behind him. The leader of this group, was the famous Lance McClain. Lance was your typical popular, high school football star. Last fall, he scored the winning touchdown at states and his popularity soared, earning him praise from practically every student attending Altea High. So of course, his already major ego, skyrocketed as well.

Keith generally would choose to ignore the irritating laughter and absurd name-calling and instead boiled silently with rage. He knew giving any sort of reaction, would just supply them with the attention that they so desired. But today... today was different. Keith was already having a rather shitty day, and the all-too familiar jock’s voice was suddenly just too much for him. He swung his head around to face them, his long hair brushing over his MCR tee. He put on the angriest face he could muster whilst still trying to not appear like a complete moron.

“I swear to fucking-” Keith was stopped short as he continued to stare at the smirk plastered on Lance’s face.

“Language, Mr. Kogane.” The teacher gasped, dramatically. He fought down the urge to shoot her an ugly glance in response and instead continued to glare at Lance. His deep blue eyes held a childish gleam.

Wait, lance had blue eyes?

Keith had never noticed that before.

“Anyways class, I will be assigning each one of you partners for the upcoming project.” Mrs. Allura declared.

Keith sighed and returned his attention to the front of the room. Mrs. Allura drew a piece of paper out of the podium shelf and began reading names off, one by one, untill she reached his.

“Keith Kogane and Lance McClain.”

Keith blinked and lifted his head, making sure he heard correctly. He then turned to look over at the boy behind him. Lance sat, mouth agape, completely dumbfounded. His possy then suddenly roared with laughter, only confirming Keith’s fears even further. Lance sunk in his chair and combed a hand through his messy, chestnut hair. Keith let his head hit the desk. His day could not possibly get any worse.

The bell rang shortly after Keith had decided that his life was now over, but he decided to stay behind to protest. As he stood to gather his things, he felt a shoulder brush past his own. He looked up and met Lance’s gaze. His surprised expression quickly morphed into a wicked scowl as he growled and sped past him. Keith could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he stormed to where Allura sat perched on top of her desk.

He detested the idea of working on a project with any of his classmates, much less Lance. Keith had been in school with the narcissistic moron ever since middle school. Lance had always been better than him at everything; football, math, even art class. It was like Keith could just never win. And as much as he hated to admit it, Lance was also much more handsome than Keith had ever been. Keith refused to admit this to anyone since he assumed others would just claim he was envious.

Or worse.

He was afraid others would even say he had a crush on Lance.

The idea put a nasty taste in his mouth and he decided to dismiss the train of thought all together as marched towards the teacher.

“Mrs. Allura, can I talk to you about my partner for this project? I just really think-”

“Keith, I already know what you’re going to say. And no, it’s too late in the game to be assigned a new partner now. I’ve been talking about this project for about a week now, you should’ve asked me in advance.” Allura stated, her blue earrings swung profusely as she spoke.

“But what if I just switched partners?” Keith asked, desperately trying to find a way out of this nightmare.

“I’ve already assigned the topics to each pair and entered them into grading rubrics.”

Keith groaned in defeat.

“So there’s no way I can get a new partner?”

“Unfortunately. Sorry Keith.” She said, hopping down from where she sat. She grabbed a few pastel notebooks from the large desk and started towards the door.

“You coming? I have a meeting to attend and I can’t leave you in here without a teacher.”

Keith cursed under his breath and finally nodded, making his way to the door, solemnly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your typical highschool AU scenario in which Keith Kogane is both an angsty and emo teenager who's rival since middle school, just so happens to be the highschool's football star; Lance McClain. But when the two are paired up for a science project, Keith learns that there's much more to this rival of his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter every Monday and Friday :)  
> (more notes at the end as well)

“And you’re sure there’s no chance of you getting a new partner?” Shiro questioned as Keith threw away the remnants of his sandwich. 

“Yep, Mrs. Allura said it was already too late.” Keith pulled out a melted chocolate bar out of the paper bag and took a bite.

“Well I mean I’m sure Lance has mellowed out since middle school, though…” He faltered when he looked over to see the face Keith was making, signalling that Lance had in fact not mellowed out at all. Shiro rolled his eyes and grinned. 

“You’ll live, Keith. Don’t worry. It’s only for a week, right?”

“A week in hell.” Keith grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he looked up to meet Shiro’s eyes, taking another bite of the bar melting in his palm.

“Hey aren’t you supposed to be at work?” Keith asked, chewing. He knew Shiro generally worked the monday shifts at the planetarium, so having him visit today during lunch was out of the ordinary. 

“Nah Coran gave me today off, because he said he didn’t feel like coming in.” Shiro laughed and shook his head, a strand of white hair falling in front of his eyes.

The bell sounded through the courtyard alerting students to make their way to next period. Keith griped and proceeded to shove the entire candy bar in his mouth. Shiro grabbed his jacket off the picnic table and started towards the parking lot. He gave one last grin and waved. With stuffed cheeks, Keith stood from the table bench and waved back. He then began packing his checkered backpack. He spun around, slinging the straps lazily over his shoulders and nearly had a heart attack. Lance was standing about five inches away from his face, glowering down at him. 

“What?” The chocolate still stuck to the roof of Keith’s mouth made it incredibly difficult to enunciate without spitting everywhere.

Lance grimaced at first then Keith noticed a smile creeped up at the corner of his lips. 

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Lance asked, suppressing laughter. 

Keith swallowed, hard and nearly began choking. At this point, Lance had to place a hand over his mouth to contain his high-pitched giggles. 

“God damnit, Lance. What do you want?” Keith muttered. He had managed to gulp down the last of the cursed candy bar and was growing more and more frustrated with the idiot standing in front of him.

“Ah, you can’t make this shit up, can you?” Lance said after finally calming down.

“I asked what you wanted, McClain.” Keith snarled, inching closer to Lance’s stupid face. Lance set his jaw, and peered down at him. 

“What do you think, Mullet?” Lanced snapped in response. 

Mullet.

Keith absolutely hated when Lance called him that. He had came up with the ridiculous nickname in eighth grade, and it somehow made its way around school and stuck. Lance knew how the name irritated Keith to no end and he used it to his advantage. Keith felt his temper begin to rise. Without thinking he opened his mouth. 

“Pretty boy!” Keith blurted out and then clasped a hand over his mouth. He could feel his ears burning up. Pretty boy?! What was he thinking?

Lance’s eyes widened and he scrunched up his nose. He let his head fall back a bit before he spoke up again.

“Um, that’s a new one…” Lance examined Keith, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Just meet me on the track today after school so we can discuss what we’re doing for this science project.” Lance still kept his eyes on Keith’s red face. Then he shook his head, still a bit confused as to what had just occurred. He glanced both ways warily before turning and walking off. He adjusted his blue varsity jacket as he strolled across the grass to the main building. 

Keith stood, a hand still tightly gripping at his face in disbelief. He groaned and the hand moved up to his temples. 

Well, his day seemingly could get even worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> (And I posted two chapters in one day, just because I just published the first one and I wanted to post the second as well to let any readers know that there are more to come. But normally I will just be posting one every Monday and Friday.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter every Monday and Friday :)

The last two periods following lunch were rather uneventful. Luckily Lance wasn’t in either of them, giving Keith a chance to shake off what had happened after lunch. God, what was going through Keith’s mind when he said that? What had provoked him to fire back with such an...odd insult? He shook his head, physically trying to rid himself of the thought as he walked out the main doors of the hallway. 

The sun had been almost completely covered with the large gray clouds beginning to form in the sky. Keith stood and clutched at the straps of his bookbag as people rushed past him. 

He was completely dreading meeting Lance today. Just the idea of spending an hour with him, made Keith want to bash his head into something. And today was just the beginning. He would have to spend practically an entire week with him. It was bound to end in disaster. Keith knew the two wouldn’t last a week attempting to work together without trying to kill each other. They were just too...opposite. 

Keith cursed under his breath and began walking.

He was desperately trying to think of something that could get him out of having to meet with Lance; an excuse, a fake injury...a real injury? No, none of that would work. It would only delay the inevitable. Keith would have to work with the jerk either way, if he wanted a decent grade on this.

Not that it mattered, really. 

The grade would just go unnoticed by his parents, along with of the rest of Keith’s time and effort on all of his other assignments. As long as he didn’t have to repeat a grade and stayed in school, his parents simply didn’t give a fuck. 

But Keith just figured he enjoyed the challenge, anyways. 

Keith finally reached the track and spotted the football team gathered in a huddle at the base of the field a few yards away. Keith stood on his tip-toes, trying to find Lance in the sea of blue and white jerseys. After a few minutes, he gave up. With a dejected sigh, he decided to sit in the bleachers and wait. 

There were two others sitting on the far east side the bleachers. One of them seemed to be searching the other’s lunch. The other one seemed completely oblivious as to what was going on right next to them as they typed away at their laptop. Keith went out of his way to find a spot on the opposite side, in hopes of avoiding the two. 

The group on the field dispersed as keith heard the coach yell something, inaudible. Keith looked up and searched the faces to find Lance’s. Keith managed to eventually spot him as he suddenly broke into a sprint across the field. God, he was fast. Keith felt his body lean forward in suspense as to what was going to happen next. Although he had never really had much interest in sports, he found himself waiting in anticipation for Lance to catch the football still soaring across the field. His eyes tracked Lance until he leaped off the ground and caught it in mid-air. And even though Lance landed flat on his back, he still managed to do it gracefully. 

Keith gasped, perhaps a bit too loud, because he suddenly realized someone was staring him. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith saw the person on their laptop giving him a nasty look. Keith gulped and looked down at his shoes, trying to escape the sharp gaze. Once he noticed the person was no longer watching him, he exhaled. He then returned his eyes back to the field. Lance was up off the ground and was now seated on a bench with a couple other guys across the field. Keith removed his bookbag off his shoulder and began digging for his earbuds. Once he located them, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket and plugged in the knotted earphones. He put one his favorite playlists on shuffle and returned his focus to untangling the cord. 

After a few songs, Keith looked up to see Lance still seated and conversing with the two other boys on the bench. Keith was beginning to grow impatient. How long did football practice last, anyways? It was bad enough that he had to come here and meet with lance in the first place, but now here was waiting for him after... how long had it been? Keith checked the time on his phone and grit his teeth. Thirty minutes had already passed and he was still seated on these old, uncomfortable bleachers waiting for Lance McClain. 

He shook his head, but just turned up the music already blaring in his ears. He decided to scroll through tumblr to pass the time, and looked up every so often to check for an sign of the practice ending.

Keith felt a tap on his shoulder causing him to nearly jump out of his skin. Surprised, he glanced up to see a small brunette suddenly appear next to him. Keith pulled out an earphone, but refused to pause the song. 

“Is that your boyfriend or something?” The person questioned, adjusting their round glasses.

“What? Who?” Keith asked. 

“Number 7.” 

Keith scanned the group on the field, searching for the number 7 until he finally spotted it on Lance’s chest. Keith felt his face begin to heat up with anger.

“Fuck no. Lance and I are not dating.” Keith declared, angrily.

“Well, pardon me. You’ve just been watching him for the past half hour.” They state, matter-of-factly. 

“No, I’m just meeting him for a science project.” Keith sighed and glanced over at Lance. He still hadn’t seemed to acknowledge Keith’s presence yet. 

“Oh, well I think it’s going to rain soon, so you may want to meet him another time or something.” They said and then began walking off while a stocky boy followed. The first person stopped mid-way down the bleachers, holding open a bag. 

“Hunk, I swear to God, did you eat my fruit-rollup?” Keith could just barely make out. 

“Sorry Pidge, I’ll bring you one tomorrow. I promise.” The boy, apparently known as Hunk replied. Pidge strut off, as Hunk followed, still apologizing.

Keith placed the earbud back in his ear and peered up at the dark sky above him. He then returned his eyes to the field where the team had now gathered again in a circle in the middle. He found Lance’s face once again and this time he met his eyes. Lance held his gaze for a second and then returned to the others. 

Finally the huddle separated and Lance said his goodbyes to his teammates. His toothy grin quickly vanished when he looked back up at Keith. Keith, glad that practice was over, but also annoyed with fact that he now had to meet with Lance, glared right back at him. He removed both of his earbuds and placed them in his bookbag along with his phone. He made his way down the bleachers and saw Lance’s eyes widen with fear. Keith stopped and tilted his head. Lance looked behind him at the the few others exiting the field, and then returned to Keith. He shook his head, slightly and mouthed the word, “wait.” Keith drooped his head and crossed his arms. Lance then began walking to the other exit off the field instead of towards the bleachers. Was this guy serious? He was going to make Keith wait even longer, just because he couldn’t risk being seen with him? 

Keith rolled his eyes and took a seat where he stood, growing even more impatient. A rumble of thunder shook the ground and Keith looked back up the angry clouds. He began tapping his foot nervously and then saw Lance casually walking towards him. Keith stood and quickly made his way to the fence.   
Keith had prepared an entire speech to give lance on how royally pissed he was about having to wait for him. But when he met Lance at the fence, face to face, Keith’s mind went blank. All he saw was the sweat droplets forming on Lance’s taut jaw, and the even darker brown hair matted to his temples, and his chapped lips...and his electric blue eyes, still wide with adrenaline from practice. 

Keith reluctantly tore his eyes away from Lance’s face and looked past him and onto the field. He quickly dismissed any thoughts that followed and just blamed them on the fact that he was gay. But...wow. Maybe it was the fact that keith had never really seen Lance before, like actually seen Lance. 

No.

He refused to allow himself to find this dickhead attractive, even if just for a second.

“Well,” Lance started, interrupting Keith’s thoughts. Keith looked at him and scowled, hoping to hide the redness in his cheeks.

“Let’s get this over with.” Lance grumbled. He started towards the bleachers and Keith followed, just as a clap of thunder shook the metal seats beneath their feet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter every Monday and Friday :)

"Well shit.” Lance placed a hand to the back of his neck, the jersey sleeve rising to reveal a toned bicep. 

“We can go in the library.” Keith decided. He was not just going to give up now, especially when he’d waited an hour for them to meet. 

“Fine. I’ve gotta go change first.” Lance turned and groaned. Keith despised the fact that he was...well, watching him go. But then he realized, that Lance was leaving Keith to just sit around and wait for him, once again. As Lance stepped off the bleachers, Keith managed to find his voice again and spoke up.

“Um, excuse me? I just sat here for an hour waiting for you.” 

“Ugh, it won’t take but five minutes. I’ll meet you back out here.” He gestured a hand behind his head as he continued. A massive bolt of lightning seemed to strike the space between the two boys, causing Keith to jump and Lance to shriek like a child. Keith smirked as Lance swung his head to face Keith, horrified. Another loud clap of thunder followed, and Keith just stood and crossed his arms. 

Lance moaned, placing a palm to his forehead.

“I have to change either way, so you’re just gonna have to wait for me in the locker room.” Lance whined.

“What? Can’t you just change after?” Keith protested.

“No, I’m sweaty and disgusting. They probably won’t even let me in the library.” 

More lightning struck the field, illuminating the black sky.

Keith worriedly glanced up and then looked over at Lance who had now began tapping his foot with impatience. 

“Oh alright.” Keith surrendered and ran towards him.

The boys had made it halfway around the field and to the locker rooms in awkward silence, when Keith felt a raindrop run down his cheek. He wiped it off, instinctively, as another one fell on his nose, as if to replace it. Then he felt some hit the hands by his sides, and then a few soaking the material of his shirt. Keith moved the bag from his back, to on top of his head. Lance looked at him and Keith just briefly made eye contact with him before they both started sprinting down the sidewalk.   
As fast as Lance was, Keith was miraculously able to keep up with him. It was pouring now, and even though the two of them were just speeding to the locker rooms to reach somewhere dry, they’re competitive natures still took over. They looked at each other for a moment, both with matching, wicked grins of determination splayed on their faces. Then they returned to the campus in front of them. 

Keith felt water starting to dampen his hair as they continued running. The smile on his face faltered as he reached up and grabbed at the front pocket of his backpack and felt the material soaked with rain. 

“Fuck!” Keith cried. He slowed and Lance looked back at him, confused.

“What?” Lance called back. 

“My bag! It’s soaked! My laptop!” Keith had come to a full stop at this point. Lance slowed down and ran back to join him underneath the trees lining the sidewalk. 

“Ok, come on. We’re almost there.” Lance gestured in front of him, urging Keith. Keith huffed and then started running again.

“Hey!” he heard Lance yell from behind him. Keith smiled as he raced down the pavement. 

When they finally made it to the locker rooms, both of them were panting; their breaths echoing in the large, empty room. Lance was bent over with hands placed at his knees, completely out of breath. Keith had found himself a seat at one of the benches across the lockers, with his head hung low. 

“I’ll...be...back.” Lance said in between short breaths. Keith nodded in response, still desperately sucking in air.

Lance was gone when Keith had finally looked up. He lifted his bag up from the tiled floor, and unzipped the first pocket. The soaking wet bag was heavy on his drenched jeans. He flipped through various binders and folders, and then slid his laptop out. He opened it with caution and noticed moisture on the screen and keyboard. Grimacing, he held down the power key and hoped for the beat. After at least thirty seconds of waiting, Keith opened his eyes, just to be disappointed by the stark black screen in front of him. He then jabbed at the key a few times, and then slammed the screen down with frustration. He leaned his head against the cold wall behind him in defeat.   
He placed the bag back on the floor and slid his now useless laptop back in. When he looked up, he saw a half-naked Lance with his back to him. A (very small) white towel hung from his hips that fell just above his knees. He was rustling through one of the lockers and began pulling out clothing. Keith could literally see the muscles in his back shift as he moved. Droplets of water fell from his hair and traced said back muscles. Keith watched as they traveled down his spine and dipped out of view behind the towel. He looked away, blushing profusely. When he finally looked back, Keith noticed the few moles that dotted Lance’s tan back, also. 

They were almost...cute?

Nope. Nope.

“Um, do you want me to like...leave?” Keith asked, awkwardly as he stared down hard at his shoelaces. 

“What?” Lance asked, casually. 

“Like so you can change.” Keith replied, coolly, gazing up at the ceiling. He was looking anywhere just to avoid looking at the boy across from him. 

Lance chuckled, although, he sounded a bit puzzled. “No, you're good. I don’t mind.”

“Oh ok.” Keith said, as he stared back down at his shoes. He noticed the white towel fall over Lance’s feet, and his eyes widened. He so badly wanted to grab his phone out of his back pocket, but refused to move. He was afraid of what his eyes might see if he did.

“You can shower, too if you want. You’d have to wear the same outfit, though.” Lance said, muffled by the shirt being pulled over his head. Keith looked up finally, hoping the red in his face had subsided. 

“No, er I’m good.” Keith replied, still refusing to make eye contact with him.

“You look like you’re going to be sick...are you catching a cold?” Lance asked, his bare feet padding against the tiles as he made his way towards the bench. 

“No, I’m fine. You think it’s still raining?” 

“Yeah, probably. We can just work in here if you want.” Lance said, sitting down next to Keith. 

“Sure. So um, any ideas?” Keith asked, finally looking over at him. He had a wet mop of hair dropping water into his eyes. 

“Well, Mrs. Allura said we’ve got to come up with a new invention to reduce how much water we use in our homes, right?” Lance thought aloud.

“Yeah, I don’t really pay attention in her class too much, so…” Keith admitted.

“Yeah, me neither, actually.” Lance replied to Keith’s surprise. 

“What? Really? But I thought you were like the top of our class.” Keith, inquired, fully facing him now. 

“Oh I am,” Lance declared, confidently. “But not in physics. I can never seem to concentrate in that class.” 

“Oh, wow. Then I guess we’re both screwed then.” Keith grinned and Lance laughed in agreement. It’s not like the moment itself was anything of significance, but just that fact that Keith was sat there genuinely laughing with Lance felt like it was, indeed significant. Maybe because Keith had never even imagined this happening or ever happening again, that is. 

“Nah, I’m sure we can find something online.” Lance said.

“Yeah, um about that. I think my laptop is done.” Keith complained.

“Shit, really? That sucks. Um, here.” Lance stood and walked over to his locker. He grabbed the athletic duffel that hung from one of the hooks. Lance sat back down and proceeded to search through the assorted sports equipment. He then pulled out a thick laptop and placed it atop of his blue jeans. 

“We can use mine, then I guess.” Lance decided.

Lance flipped it open and began typing in his password to unlock it. The screen showed a background of a beach at sunset. Lance quickly opened clicked the browser icon at the bottom of the screen and the beach was covered, by a white search engine display. 

“Pretty background.” Keith heard himself say. He regretted the words as soon as they left his lips. Even though it was, Keith didn’t know what had provoked him to say this.

“Uh thanks.” Lance responded, uncomfortably. An awkward silence between them followed as he began searching for potential ideas until Lance spoke up again.

“I er used to live in California.” It was an odd statement, and it took Keith a second to realize he was talking about the screensaver.

“Really? What’s it like there?” Keith piped up, suddenly interested. Lance used to live in California? Keith had just always assumed he had lived in Alabama his whole life. 

“It’s the best there. It’s always so warm and it rarely rains, unlike here.” Lance beamed.

“You miss it?” Keith asked. He wasn’t sure why he asked, but something about how fascinated Lance seemed talking about his home, also struck an interest in Keith. He realized he didn’t actually know much about the kid he’s despised since middle school.

“Like crazy. I liked the people there, too.” Lance paused, reminiscent. “Everyone there thought they were like celebrities or something. I don’t know. Just made me feel like I was someone, too, just for living there.” He had completely stopped typing now and was looking up at the tops of the lockers. 

“Explains why you’re so full of yourself,” Keith snickered, nudging him with his elbow. 

“Hey! Rude!” Lance laughed, returning to reality.

The two finally stopped laughing and Lance looked down at the clock on the computer.

“It’s almost 6.” Lance exclaimed abruptly. “I gotta get home for dinner or my mom will kill me.” 

Jealousy sparked in Keith’s chest as he watch begin to grab his duffel. His heart ached for a curfew and home-cooked dinner. And a mother that cared enough to have his son be home at a certain hour. 

“Oh and um,” Lance’s voice jarred him from his thoughts.

“You can use my laptop. I mean if you want. Until you get a new one, or whatever.” He said, nervously. 

“Wait what?” Keith asked, genuinely unsure if he heard Lance correctly. 

“Don’t make a deal out of this, okay? I just...felt bad. Oh and the password is ‘lancedance45.’” Lance said, awkwardly. Keith resisted the urge to laugh and make a remark on how hilariously idiotic that password was. Instead he replied, as politely as he could.

“Yeah, um thanks.” Keith said, grabbing the laptop from Lance’s outstretched hand.

Lance ruffled a hand through soaked strands of hair, only messing it up even more. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then I guess.” Lance slung the duffel strap over his shoulder. 

“Yeah.” Keith watched as Lance stepped into the dark hallway. He stared down at the laptop in his hands.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter every Monday and Friday :)

The next day began just as dark and gloomy as the day before it. Storm clouds had already began swarming the sky. Keith had already began dreading meeting with Lance again today after school.

Well dreading didn’t feel like the correct word.

It wasn’t like Keith was excited, by any means, to meet with Lance. He just...well he didn’t know exactly. It was still taking time out of his day when he’d much rather be getting homework done or possibly scrolling through tumblr. So meeting with him was still an inconvenience to Keith. 

As Keith thought, he strolled through the mildly crowded hallway, not necessarily paying attention to where he was walking until he ran into something. A big something.  
Irritated, he looked up to see a concerned face. 

“Sorry Keith! Are you okay?” The guy had gripped Keith by the shoulders now and examined him.

“Um yeah. Fine.” Keith directed his eyes to the hands still tightly grasped at his shoulders. Noticing this, the guy released him and apologized again.

“Keith, right? My name’s Hunk.” He held out a hand with a warm grin.

“Oh yeah, I met your friend, yesterday. Pidge I think.” Keith replied, eyeing the outstretched hand warily. 

“Yep! Anyways you're just the person I was looking for.” Hunk stated. He was still smiling as he lowered his hand, realizing Keith was clearly not going to take it. 

“Oh?” Keith questioned. This guy whom Keith just accidently barreled into, was looking for him? How did he even know Keith anyways?

“Yeah Pidge told me that your boyfriend was looking for you and to meet him at lunch. Ah what was his name again?” Hunk asked, absent-mindedly scratching his chin. 

“Pidge told me his name, but I can’t seem to recall...was it...Lane? No. Larry?” Hunk thought aloud, completely oblivious to Keith seething with rage right beside him.

“Lance.” Keith growled through gritted teeth.

“Lance! That’s his name! Sorry I’ve never met the guy but he’s apparently in Pidge’s Spanish class.” 

“Please tell Pidge-” 

“Don’t worry I’ll let them know you got the message.” Hunk interrupted with a friendly smile. Keith opened his mouth once again to protest when the bell rang. Hunk turned and started down the hall until he stopped and spun back around. 

“Oh and have fun!” Hunk said with a giggle. 

Keith felt his face scorching. 

Keith generally preferred sitting in the high school's large courtyard outside for lunch. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as the cafeteria. Plus sometimes Shiro would visit and bring Steak n’ Shake. But because of the severe weather, all students were required to eat inside today.

Keith stepped into the large cafeteria and searched for Lance’s lot. After a few minutes of awkwardly wandering through people, standing on his tip-toes, Keith gave up and just decided to wait instead.

He waded through the crowds surrounding the lunch line and past several tables overflowing with obnoxious students until he finally found a somewhat isolated seat next to the window. He slid into the plastic chair as the group seated on the other side of the table went out of their way to stop their conversation completely and watch him. Keith avoided their eyes completely until he was certain that had continued talking again. He exhaled and tried his best to tune out the noise filling the room. The rain hitting the glass behind him, soothed his nerves and he turned to look out. 

He had zoned out completely, focusing only on the streams of raindrops racing down the pane of the window. So when Lance had appeared and slammed his fist on the table in front of him, Keith was more than startled. Keith threw his back against his chair, and looked up only to see the back of Lance’s blue, varsity jacket as he marched off. The people sitting with him wore puzzled expressions, staring at him for an explanation. 

Keith replied with a shrug and returned his gaze back down to the lunch in front of him. A slightly crumbled piece of notebook paper lay on a flattened bag of chips. Keith grabbed it and read the messy handwriting,

“You were supposed to meet me, idiot. Here’s my number. I’ll text you if practice is cancelled today.”

Keith stared at the note for second, before his brain caught up to him. He pulled out his phone and began punching in the scribbled numbers. When he placed it back in the pocket of his hoodie, he scanned the lunchroom for lance, but the mess of people was too thick to spot him. 

When lunch had finally ended, Keith glanced around once more for the boy as he made his way to the final two periods before they would meet again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter every Monday and Friday :)

Keith found himself rushing out the door when the bell finally sounded. For some reason he was rather eager to leave his final period. (Unbeknownst to him, it was because he was eager to see Lance again. But of course Keith just assumed the feeling to be dread.)

When he finally made it to the doors leading outside, he noticed a crowd forming. Most of them just looked bored or were on their phones. Then he noticed another student, seemingly just as confused as himself rush past the crowd and out the doors. The doors flew back with a strong gust of wind, allowing a thick sheet of rain to flood into the hallway. The students around him gasped and jumped back. The kid stood for a moment, clearly still stunned. Then he finally ran outside to slam the doors close again. Keith looked down as his now, drenched high top sneakers and sighed. 

He assumed football practice had to have been canceled. 

Keith leaned his body against one of the lockers away from the group and let his feet slide out in front of him on the now slick terrazzo floor. Then he fumbled in his back pocket for his phone. He stared at the black lock screen in puzzlement. There were no apparent notifications. He was positive Lance would have texted him by now, alerting him that practice was canceled. Groaning, he let his head rest against the cool metal of the lockers. He guessed he was going to have to wait on this boy yet again.  
Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes had now passed and Keith was growing antsy. Why hadn’t Lance texted him yet? Had practice not been canceled after all? No, it had to have been canceled, there was no way they would be forced to practice in this severe of weather. 

Keith proceeded to check his phone for maybe the millionth time, just to be disappointed. He wasn’t sure why, but he found the thought of actually texting himself, utterly terrifying. Maybe it was just him being overdramatic, but the thought of purposely entering Lance’s phone number into his phone and physically texting him felt like...too weird to him, to say the least. That’s something friends do. And Keith was far from admitting that the two were even possible acquaintances. 

Keith let his head fall in front of him, staring down at the dim phone screen. He just needed to text Lance already. This had dragged on long enough. 

Just as he unlocked his phone, a notification appeared at the top of his screen. It was a text from Lance. 

“Yeah it’s canceled I’ll meet you at the main doors.” 

Keith exhaled a sigh of relief.

He didn’t bother to reply. Instead he remained standing with the small group still huddled by the door. 

A few moments passed before a slightly wet Lance appeared behind him. Keith spun around to face him and they began walking towards the backdoors of the school.   
“The library good?” Lance asked suddenly as the two walked. They were now in a narrow, empty hallway. His voice echoed off the stark white walls. 

“I mean unless you’d rather sit in the locker room again.” Lanced chuckled and turned to Keith with a crooked smile. Keith heard himself laugh, somewhat awkwardly, but genuinely. 

“Yeah, I think I’m actually going to have to pass, thanks.” Keith finally responded. 

Lance turned his gaze back of the corridor in front of them, but Keith’s seemed to linger. He noticed the small smile just beginning to fade from Lance’s rosy lips, the scattered raindrops on his grey tee, his hands tucked tightly into the pockets of his jeans moving as he walked. Why was Keith beginning to notice these things all of sudden? 

He stared hard at the ground as they continued down the hall, nearing the doors. At this point, he was just praying his cheeks didn’t appear as fiery as they felt.   
When they finally reached the end, Lance and him had to physically throw their bodies against the doors for them to finally fly open. The storm had grown even angrier than before. A long sidewalk lined with tiny trees, swaying profusely from the strong winds, stood under a narrow covering. The rain was now blowing in from both sides, soaking the cement sidewalk. 

Lance turned to Keith once again, the manic, childish grin appearing again. Keith knew this smile now and he raced out the doors before Lance could even speak.  
Keith was having a harder time keeping pace with Lance today because of the slippery surface, nonetheless, Keith realized both Lanc and himself wore identical, boyish smiles. 

They both skid to a top when finally reaching the entrance to the school library. Lance grabbed onto a metal pole and dipped his head, panting. His hair was slightly drenched and wet strands dripped onto the dry pavement. They stood under the larger covering jutting out from the brick building, trying to steady their breathing.  
“You’re-you’re not out of breath, right?” Keith barely managed. He looked up and snickered. 

“Shut up, Keith.” He panted some more, smiling. Then he walked up to the door and tried the handle. 

Not that the two boys talked much, but thinking about it now, Keith didn’t think Lance had ever referred to Keith by his first name before. It was generally either idiotic nicknames or his last name. Keith wasn’t sure, but the word sounded weird coming from Lance’s lips. 

“Shit.” Lance hunched against the door, still obviously attempting to catch his breath.

“What?” Keith asked.

“What do you think dumbass? It’s locked.”

Keith refused to accept that. He harshly yanked at the other handle, but to no avail. 

“Backdoors?” Keith suggested.

“I don’t think there are any, and I’m sure they’d be locked as well.” Lance answered, his body still slumped against the metal door frame. Keith joined him and set his bookbag on the ground. Maybe the two of them could go to work on the project at a McDonald’s or something. Then Keith realized that the two could go to his house, but Keith quickly dismissed the idea. 

Just as Lance opened his mouth to say something, his phone began to ring. He twisted his back in order to reach the front pocket of his bag and pulled out his phone. When he finally answered it, he held the phone away from his ear, as a woman began yelling on the other end. 

“Hi Mom.” Lance replied, sheepishly. He placed the phone to his ear now.

“Yeah it’s pretty bad.”

“Ok. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yeah I’m by the library. It’s locked, though.”

“Alright. Okay. Mhm. You too. Bye.”

Keith stood, without realizing he was watching him. Lance looked at him all of a sudden almost like he’d forgotten he was even standing there. 

“Oh, Mom. Yeah. Can I uh-can I have friend over tonight, then? It’s for a um project.” Lance, asked, turning away from him. Keith raised an eyebrow and Lance flicked him off in response.

“Yeah. Thanks. Ok. Bye. Yes Mom. Bye.” Lace sighed when he finally managed to hang up. 

“So?” Keith asked, expectantly. 

“Well, she says she doesn’t want me late for dinner again tonight, so we could just, work on it at my house.” Lance offered. He scratched at the back of his neck and was looking up at the tin roof.

“Uh, yeah that works I guess.” Keith replied nervously.

Lance sighed and tightened his grip on the straps of his bookbag. 

“Alright so where are you parked?” Keith asked. 

“Um well. I uh- I can’t actually...drive yet.” Lance admitted, lowering his voice. Keith stifled laugh.

“You can’t drive yet? That’s fucking hilarious.” Keith mocked. Lance rolled his eyes, and placed his hands at his hips like an upset child.

“Listen, I got permit late, okay?” He declared, indignantly. 

“No, no,” Keith was gripping at his stomach now, laughing. “Ah highlight of my day.” 

“Screw you.” Lance grumbled, pouting. 

“Sorry, sorry it’s just,” Keith felt another fit of laughter coming on, but managed to refrain, seeing how clearly embarrassed Lance was by this. 

“It’s fine, we can just take my car.” Keith said finally, managing to calm down. 

“Okay, fine we can take your stupid car. Let me text her.” Lance pulled pulled out his phone once again and Keith grabbed his bag off the ground. 

As they started making their way to the student’s parking lot, the fact that Keith was going over to Lance’s home finally settled in. Keith bit his lip as they walked, avoiding Lance’s eyes. They walked side by side, in an attempt of avoiding the rain pouring in on either side of them and a number of scenarios began to fill Keith’s already anxious mind.


End file.
